Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives Aminu Tambuwal, on Wednesday halted the debate on President Goodluck Jonathan's request to the National Assembly for an additional N161,617,364,911bn to the sum of N888.1bin earlier approved for payment of fuel subsidy in the 2012 Appropriation Act.
Some lawmakers had expressed concerns on the rationale behind the request and government's complacency towards recovering monies alleged to have been fraudulently received by some oil marketers who benefitted from the Petroleum Support Fund (PSF), notwithstanding the prosecution of some of indicted oil marketers by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
During the debate, Speaker called for patience and understanding of the lawmakers, emphasising the need for inputs from the House Committees on Petroleum Resources (Upstream and Downstream) and Finance and Appropriation in order to guide the House in deciding to approve or reject the president’s request.
The supplementary budget, if approved by the National Assembly, will bring the total fuel subsidy budget for 2012 to N1,041,881,608,594trn.
Minority Whip, Samson Osagie (Edo/ACN), Uzor Azubuike (Abia/PDP), Friday Itulah (Edo/PDP) in wide-ranging debates before the suspension queried the country's reliance on expensive refined petroleum imports in view of the inability of the country's refineries to function at full capacity. The lawmakers equally expressed worries on the sustainability of the Federal Government's fuel subsidy regime and the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P).
Jonathan, in a letter to the National Assembly, said a forensic audit carried out on the provision for fuel subsidy revealed that the 2012 budget for the programme was underestimated.
As at now, the president stated that the sum of N880,264,243,683.61 has been paid out, leaving a balance of N7,735,756,316.39.
Jonathan also disclosed that the extra fuel subsidy cash needed to settle accumulated fuel subsidy arrears owed oil marketers, will help to “maintain a steady flow of petroleum products, especially in the run-up to the festive season.”
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